PONCE INLET, Fla. – A major dredging project to restore parts of Volusia County’s beaches is getting ready to start.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will create a temporary operation at Ponce Inlet, using a pipeline to transport vast amounts of sand. The county said the work will help renourish the beaches after severe erosion caused by hurricanes over the past four years, which have significantly damaged the beaches and dunes.
Preparations for the project have already begun at Lighthouse Point Park. In just five days, the Army Corps will arrive with equipment to construct the temporary dredging pipeline, which will draw sand from the inlet and the Intracoastal Waterway.
“So that we can capitalize on what we’re hearing may be up to 900,000 cubic yards of beautiful beach-quality sand,” said Jessica Fentress, the county’s coastal director.
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The dredging is scheduled to officially start in April, focusing on rebuilding the beaches north of the inlet.
“You’re going to see a large pipe running over the North Jetty at Lighthouse Point Park. It’s going to go along the dune line into the conservation zone up to about Beach Street,” said Fentress. “We have been working on this project since the ‘22 hurricanes.”
The “Trap Bags,” temporarily being used to prevent further erosion in areas north of Ponce, will be removed in many locations. Over the past four years, hurricanes have caused dunes, beachfront homes, and backyards to wash away, leading to significant beach loss in Volusia County. The county plans to replace the sand lost during these storms.
“This is not enough sand to make a football-field-wide beach that we all envision. What this sand is going to do is it’s going to be placed against the seawalls and dunes and help reinforce our dune structure,” Fentress noted.
The Ponce Inlet beach access ramp will be closed for about a week during the pipeline setup. The dredging process is expected to take six to eight months, followed by an additional nine months to a year for the county to distribute the sand to the necessary locations.